GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- Sounds of excitement filled Gaston County's newest $52 million middle school, W.P. Grier Middle School, as leaders unlocked the doors for parents and future students to get a first look ahead of the first day of school next week.

"It's absolutely gorgeous. It is," said Grier Principal Jessica Mellon. "It really has been designed with so much attention to detail. It amazes me that even the spaces have been laid out in order to support the content that students are going to be learning in the classrooms. It is made to be a very collaborative and flexible space for our students, and it's also very safe."

Mellon says the former building was built in 1956 and had classroom doors that opened right to the outside, causing a safety concern. Students had to wal

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